My Advice

My Problem

Bought this phone from a friend at work and it had a cracked screen and the power button did not work. I have replaced several screens, batteries, and dock connectors, but I was rather hesitant to take on the power button flex cable. Being as I only paid $30 for the phone, I figured I didn't have much to lose so I dove in head first.

My Fix

The repair went swimmingly. Followed an instructional video step by step and made sure to keep careful track of all the screws and placement. Everything went as best as it could have. Power button, mute, and both volume buttons now work and with the new screen it's almost like a brand new phone. I am very pleased with myself and ifixit.

My Advice

My advice would be to take your time and pay close attention to what you're doing. Do not try to rush or force things and if something seems off or wrong then it probably is. Always double check your work before moving on. Also make sure you have all the proper tools and accoutrement at hand before undertaking any sort of repair.

My Problem

My Fix

The repair instructions were PERFECT. But be warned, you basically have to take 95% of the circuitry out of your phone to do this repair. My repair was 100% successful.

My Advice

To keep track of the screws, get 6 or so pill bottles and put the screws and the parts for each step into individual pill bottles. The screws appear to be all the same thread (thankfully) but are different lengths. Some vary by only 0.1 mm!

Have good light, a steady hand, and a pair of tweezers.

When putting the display connectors back together, take a small camel hair artists brush and brush the male and female contacts thoroughly to get the dust out. Spray with canned air. These connectors have to be spotless or you get about 4mm of color bars on the top of the screen with flakey touch screen performance.

Go slow, be patient, and don't sneeze! This repair takes some finesse and great care. No forcing things either apart or back together.

My Problem

Power button and volume Up stopped working. Figured I would repair phone and keep as a spare.

My Fix

The repair was a little more involved than I thought but interesting to see how it all goes together. Followed the instructions provided on the website. Tip: I used my gopro dash mount suction cup to remove the display.

My Advice

If you are comfortable working with computers or crafts you can do this task. For this particular swap it took me about an hour. Make sure you get the correct tools.

My Advice

My Problem

I've had my iPhone 5 for close to two years now. Two months before my eligible upgrade to the next iPhone the power/sleep button stopped working. Using a workaround for a few weeks started to become cumbersome and I really didn't want to upgrade to the larger iPhone 6. Knowing how much a repair through a shop would be, I decided to hold on to my phone a bit longer and repair it myself.

My Fix

The repair took a lot longer than I expected. However, because I opened my phone up weeks prior to the repair, and by doing some research on iFixit, the small parts and screws seemed a little less daunting to deal with.

Because I had to replace the entire power control/audio control ribbon, I pretty much had to gut the entire phone. The iFixit tray came in handy when keeping all the parts and screws organized for reassembly. Also, thank heavens for the iSclack phone opener because before, I was using a razor blade which nicked my phone up pretty good.

Like I said before, the repair took a lot longer (just under 3 hours) than I had expected mainly because I didn't realize how many parts were laying upon the part I had to replace. I also had some problems with getting the special standoff screws back into place upon reassembly, but with some patience I got them to go in.

How many times did I want to throw my phone and parts across the room?...

...Only two.

My Advice

Plan, plan, plan. Take Murphy's Law into account and purchase your tools and parts according to that. There's nothing worse than opening your phone and realizing you just wiped all the parts and screws on the ground with your arm. Also, no matter how frustrated you get, be gentle. If you have kids you'll have more practice with this.

My Problem

Total blackout. After a popular "waterproof" case failed while snorkeling on vacation, threw my phone in a bag of rice and took it to a repair guy, the phone worked again after an ultrasonic isopropyl bath. But, it was never the same, it suffered a slow and painful death within the next 6 months poor battery performance, loss of volume and power button function, and screen sensitivity issues.

My Fix

Great! I am no iphone pro. But knew my way around tiny electronics. Had it back together in little over an hour.

My Advice

Get the screw placement placard, keeps you organized when you get into the guts. Love my Ifixit tools.

My Problem

The original battery was not working properly, also the power, audio cable was a mess. Apple had a recall on this problems. I checked apple site with my iphone serial number and I was included in the recall. I sent my i5 to apple and they contacted me saying I need to pay $250, and I ask them that what was the recall about then if they were going to charge me. They could not give me an answer. Since I have already got an i6, I've decided to do the repair my self. That's when I found ifixit.

My Fix

Every thing went well since this is not my first time to open an iphone.

My Advice

My Problem

The main problem started with the power button intermittently working, and eventually randomly working on it's own. It was annoying having screenshots taken at random, and the phone randomly trying to shut down, including while having conversations with other people.

The secondary problem I found, was that the battery would run down very very quickly especially in the cold. Right before replacing it, it had gotten so bad that the battery would fail halfway through the day, and would take hours of charging just for it to start again.

My Fix

The fix went surprisingly smooth; I drew quadrants on a piece of paper and I applied double sided tape to each quadrant, in order to hold my screws in exactly the same order that I took them out in (made things much simpler, IFitit does sell a tray to do exactly that but I didn't come across it until after the fix was completed). I carefully followed the Ifixit guide with great success. The power button itself was more difficult to take out then the guide would lead you to believe, but with a little convincing it came out.

My Advice

One thing I discovered after reassembling the entire phone, is that it would be a good idea to keep an eye on where the camera is and if the lens gets touched. I thought I had been pretty careful with it, as it turns out I would've needed to clean it anyway before reassembling (the environmental dust of my home was enough to fog it up with specs of something). I've yet to set aside the time to pull it back apart to clean the lens off, i'm not overly worried about it until then.

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It's time to speak out for your right to repair

Dear New Yorkers,

Right now, New York has a chance to pass the first Fair Repair bill in
the nation. We have a chance to guarantee our right to repair electronics—like
smartphones, computers, and even farm equipment. We have a chance to help
the environment and stand up for local repair jobs—the corner mom-and-pop
repair shops that keep getting squeezed out by manufacturers.

It's time to speak out for your right to repair

Massachusetts,

The people of Massachusetts have always stood up for their
right to repair. In 2012, voters passed a law that ensured
residents' right to repair their car wherever they wanted.
Now, it's time to do the same for electronics.

With the Digital Right to Repair Bill, H.3383, we have a chance
to guarantee our right to repair electronics — like smartphones,
computers, and even farm equipment. We have a chance to help
the environment and stand up for local repair jobs—the corner
mom-and-pop repair shops that keep getting squeezed out by
manufacturers.

The Digital Right to Repair Bill requires manufacturers to
provide owners and independent repair businesses with fair
access to service information, security updates, and
replacement parts.

If you agree with us, find out who represents you in the
Massachusetts legislature. Tell them you support the
bipartisan Digital Right to Repair Bill. Tell them that you
believe repair should be fair, affordable, and accessible.
Stand up for the right to repair in Massachusetts.